Wishing and Hoping
by Jennifer Juniper
Summary: Joe's got a crush on Sora, but he's afraid to tell her. Mimi's got a solution: Makeover time! It's one-sided Jyora for now, but don't expect it to stay that way...


A/N: I hate author's notes at the top. You can have 'em when you finish reading the chapter.  
  
Wishing and Hoping, Chapter 1--Confesssion  
  
Joe Kido sat on a metal bench, watching a soccer match. His short blue hair blew in the wind as he strained his eyes through his glasses, trying to get a good look at his favourite player as she ran around on the field below.  
  
Now Joe was not very much to look at. He was tall and ungainly, like the fabled ugly duckling. "Ugly duckling" was a metaphor that could easily fit Joe. His blue hair was cut unevenly and fell past his shoulders as he hadn't had it cut in quite a while, and though he had lovely looking eyes, they looked horrible behind his shop-class style glasses. He wore stereotypical geek clothes--sweater vest, collared shirt, ugly blue knee socks that didn't match at all with the rest of his outfit, that sort of thing-- and carried a first aid kit with him at all times. However, Joe was a nice guy, if not a bit odd.   
  
He watched the girls' soccer teams playing each other. They were tied, and time was running out. Then out of nowhere, their star player, Sora Takenouchi, dribbled the ball up by the other team's goal. With a swift kick, she put the soccer ball past the goalie and into the net. Her team won with one point. All the other girls ran up and hugged her, high-fiving and congratulating.  
  
Friends from the stands poured down onto the field. Tai high-fived Sora and then did a happy dance in her honor. Eventually the field cleared as parents took the players and friends out for pizza. Pretty soon the only spectator left was Joe. He sighed and walked home.  
  
"This always happens," Joe muttered to himself, adjusting his glasses. "I go someplace where I know Sora will be. Then I get there and I can't even talk to her! What's the matter with me?"  
  
He continued to talk to himself, ignoring the looks passersby gave him. A little boy called out, "Hiya, crazy man!" but Joe didn't notice. He was so lost in his thoughts that he passed his apartment completely without even noticing and started walking over to his best friend's place.   
  
When Joe looked up and saw the Tachikawa's sign hanging on their door, he scratched his head. "This is what I get for not paying attention," he muttered. "Might as well see if anyone's home. Maybe I can hang out with Mimi for a while."   
  
He hesitantly knocked on the door.   
  
  
Mimi Tachikawa lay on her pink bed, flipping through a fashion magazine. "Oh, what a pretty dress! Eww, this one's awful, though. It's too bad Mama and Daddy had to go to that funeral today. We could have done something fun," she murmurred to herself.   
  
A friend of Mama's had died, and her parents were expected to go. Mimi, however, wasn't wanted.   
  
"Why can't I come?" she asked her parents. "They said 'no children', not 'no Mimi'. I'm not a child! It'll be boring just sitting around here all day." However, Mama and Papa hadn't budged, so Mimi was left at home.  
  
She found an article that looked interesting and was about to start reading it when she heard someone knocking at the door. With a sigh, she closed the magizine and went to open the door.  
  
Standing on the other side was a miserable looking Joe. Mimi grinned. Nothing was boring when there was another person hanging out with you, not even an afternoon sitting at home. "Hi, Joe! What's wrong?"  
  
They walked into the living room and Joe flopped down onto the sofa. "Everything," he mumbled.  
  
Mimi laughed. "Not everything can be wrong, Joe! There must be something good." She sat down next to him. "What's so bad, anyway?"  
  
"Today was just a bad day, and it didn't help that I was a wimp and didn't say anything to S--" Joe cut himself off before he said Sora's name. He turned a little pink and turned his gaze to the carpeting and his shoes.  
  
Mimi tilted her head to the side. "Didn't say anything to who? Why are you turning red, Joe?" Joe just blushed harder at this question. With a flash of understanding, Mimi grinned. "Ohhhh...Joe, do you like someone?"  
  
Joe's eyes grew wide and he muttered, "I do not, Mimi."  
  
"You do, too, Joe! I can tell!" Mimi replied. "Come on, Joe, you can tell me who it is. I won't tell anyone."  
  
"I don't have a crush on anyone." Even as Joe said this, though, his face began to grow red-hot.  
  
"Please tell me, Joe? I can keep a secret, you know," Mimi wheedled.  
  
"No."  
  
"So you admit there is someone you like!"  
  
Joe began tracing a pattern on the carpet with his foot. "Fine, there is, but I won't tell you who."  
  
"Well, you said 'S--', so it must start with an S," Mimi figured. "Let's see. It couldn't be Sara. She's going out with someone in the computer club. And it couldn't be Selena, because she really isn't your type."  
  
"What do you mean, 'not my type'?" Joe asked, a bit confused. "Besides, just because I said S-- doesn't mean her name starts with an 's'."  
  
"Well, Selena is a dull goth girl. I don't see how she would interest you at all," Mimi replied. "And besides, it'd just make more sense if her name started with 's'. Won't you please tell me, Joe? There's way too many girls to go through otherwise."  
  
"Fine," Joe answered. He mumbled something inaudible.  
  
Mimi leaned forward. "What did you say, Joe?"  
  
He spoke again, a little louder, but his words were still too quiet to be understood.  
  
"Just a little louder, Joe? I can't hear you."  
  
"I like Sora, okay?" Joe shouted. His blush spread down his neck, and he stared at his feet, waiting for peals of laughter or something equal to that.  
  
Mimi threw her arms around him. "That's so CUTE! I wouldn't have expected Sora, but it's adorable anyway. Have you told her yet?"  
  
Joe wiggled out of Mimi's hug. "I haven't told her. I'm not going to, either."  
  
"Why not?" This thoroughly confused Mimi. If one person felt something for another, why wouldn't they say something about it?  
  
"Because--because--I don't know! She'll laugh at me. I'm a total nerd. Why would anybody like me?" Joe asked.  
  
"I like you."  
  
"That's different, though, Mimi. You wouldn't want to go out with me, I'm sure. I'm ugly and barely have any friends besides you and my schoolbooks. Why would Sora want to go on a date with reliably ugly old Joe?"  
  
"Hmm..." Mimi looked closely at Joe. "You know, with the right haircut, you wouldn't look that bad, Joe. And maybe some new glasses would help. And some new clothes, of course. Good looks always help with self-confidence and self-esteem. Then you could ask Sora out on a date! How romantic!"  
  
"Mimi? What are you getting at?" Poor Joe began to look rather nervous. Mimi's schemes didn't always turn out so well, after all. There was that noodle incident last year, after all.  
  
"Joe?" Mimi asked with what Joe would identify as a positively evil look in her eyes. "Have you ever considered a makeover?"  
~*~  
  
A/N: Hi! No flames for the positively evil Jyora in this. I swear it'll change...sooner or later. It all depends on how long Joe's makeover takes. Oh, and the title of this story is taken from the song of the same name by Dusty Springfield. I apologize that this chapter's rather short, but I'll write longer ones, I swear. A hint on getting chapters (long ones especially) out of my head and into the computer: Review. Lots of reviews are good. Please, please, please! I don't want to sound desperate, but umm...I am. Heheheh. Sorry. Just review, okay?  
  
Disclaimer: If Digimon belonged to me, Joe, Matt, and Tai would all get a LOT more action--Matt and Tai with each other and Joe with Mimi. This disclaimer applies to all future chapters and will only be posted on this one, 'cause I'm lazy and you all know that I don't own Digimon, right? 


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